Conant v. Walters (Summary)

Conant v. Walters, No. 00-17222 (9th Cir. Oct. 29, 2002)

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal district court order enjoining the federal government from “either revoking a physician’s license to prescribe controlled substances or conducting an investigation of a physician that might lead to such revocation, where the basis for the government’s action is solely the physician’s professional ‘recommendation’ of the use of medical marijuana.” The appeals court agreed with the district court that the federal policy “threatens to interfere with expression protected by the First Amendment.”